A Muslim's Life on the Island
by miracle121
Summary: Sayid is a Muslim. On the island, he has tried to keep up with his culture in many ways, although he has committed sins as well...


There were many things a Muslim needs to look out for, especially on the island in which Sayid Jarrah landed on and tried surviving, as he tried to keep up with the conditions of his culture.

When Sayid first landed on the island, he knew Ramadan was soon. (Ramadan: A holy month in which Muslims celebrate by fasting until sunset.)

Sayid saw the crescent about a week into the crash. He knew that Ramadan had started and he had to fast.

"Hey, Sayid, you want some fruit," said Kate throwing him a papaya. He rejected by shaking his head.

"What, you're not hungry? Or are you just deep in thought?" asked Kate in curiosity.

"It's Ramadan," he said, answering her questions.

"Oh… sorry, I'll take this right from in front of your face then," she said and turned around and walked away from him.

He looked at everyone around him. Everyone was munching on fruit whilst his stomach was growling. He lied on the sand and looked at the sky, waiting for the sun to set so he would be able to sink his teeth into a juicy papaya.

Sayid was able to wait for a few hours, until everyone was having lunch. His stomach was torturing him with grumbles that would drive anyone crazy.

"Dude…" said Hurley, as he came up with an armful of different fruits and two pieces of fish. "I got this for you. Noticed you were hungry. I know that look on a guy's face," he said, handing him a piece of fish. Again, he refused.

"I know you want it," he said, waving it in front of his eyes. "Dude, don't be shy."

"I'm fasting Hurley," said Sayid.

"Why would you want to fast? You're already skinny enough."

"Ramadan, Hurley, I'm Muslim," said Sayid in utter patience.

"Isn't Islam like a terrorist group or something?" asked Hurley confused.

Sayid turned his head to Hurley, with a sudden urge to start a fight with him. "Please tell that you know what Islam is."

"I told you it's a ter…"

"It's not, Hurley. It's a religion. Like you're Christian, I'm Muslim…" Sayid blurted quite angry.

"Dude, did I just offend you?" Hurley said, knowing that he had kind of called Sayid a terrorist.

"Forget it, Hurley. I can't eat, not yet. That's the point I've been trying to make."

"Oh… why not?"

"Because it's Ramadan. In Ramadan, a Muslim can't eat or drink until the sun sets, which is not any time soon," said Sayid with a sigh.

"Why?" asked Hurley in confusion. "I understand the Rama whatever part but like why do you fast. There has to be some reason."

"Why do you fast in Lent?" asked Sayid, which kind of struck Hurley. He didn't really know. Sayid smiled at Hurley's stupidity. "Allah, which is the name of the god we believe in, made Ramadan so we could understand the way that the less fortunate feel, when they're hungry and all, therefore, we would be tempted to try and help them."

"Oh," he said. "sorry dude. I feel stupid. I know what it feels like, now. Piece of advice: don't lie down waiting. Entertain yourself, dude. See ya." He left, stuffing a piece of fish in his mouth.

"Sayid looked around for something to do. He wished that he had the Quran (Islam's holy book) so that he could be able to pass the time by reading its verses. He began to recite some of the verses he knew by heart. Some of the camp, out of curiosity were attracted to the sound and listened.

"Sadaka Allahu Ala'th'eem," he said, ending his reciting, and looking around at some of the people surrounding him.

"What?" he asked the camp with a smile.

"I didn't know you could sing, Sayid. What language is that anyway?" asked Charlie, quite amazed at the power of his voice.

"I was not singing. I was reciting Quran verses," he answered.

"Oh, right, you're Muslim," he said plainly. "So you're fasting now right, because I noticed you weren't eating."

He nodded as his stomach began grumbling.

The people surrounding him looked at him in pity. He was obviously hungry by the way he held his stomach.

Sayid was able to make it through the day until sunset, when he gladly ate two fishes and fruit. He was able to share the moment of breaking his fast with Hurley, who likes looking the faces of men when their hunger is satisfied.

There was a time when Locke saved Sayid some boar meat so that he could break his fast with.

When it cam time for sunset, Sayid prayed and then began eating fruits again.

"Hey Sayid, saved you some boar meat. Stay here, I'll go and get it…"

"No, John," said Sayid. "I can't eat pork. It's against my religion."

Hurley, who was sitting right beside him looked at him with narrow eyes. "Umm, why not?" he said thinking that Islam forbids too many things.

"It is the cause of no less than seventy diseases. A person can have various Helminthes, especially the tapeworm. The tapeworm, can cause memory loss, blindness and liver damage…"

"Dude, I lost my appetite," said Hurley, stopping him from explaining anything else.

"Ok then, I'll just give it to someone else," said Locke, turning away from them.

There was one day, when he and Claire were walking along the beach together. He looked at her growing belly. "When are you due?" he asked her politely.

"In about a month, I guess," she answered sweetly.

"Are you or were you married to the father of the baby?" he asked. For some reason, he was quite curious.

"No," she said regularly. "Why are you asking?"

"Just curious," he answered simply.

"Tell me how it works in your culture?" she asked, knowing that Islam forbids sex before marriage.

"This is considered a great sin in Islam. If you were a Muslim, people would throw rocks at you," he said, trying to seem as sweet as possible.

"Oh," she said, quite embarrassed.

He smiled. "Sorry to scare you."

"It's OK. I know what I did was wrong anyway. That's why the baby was put up for adoption. But I find it quite weird though, in Islam, that someone is not allowed to fall in love before marriage," she said, trying not to sound biased.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked. "Of course Muslims are allowed to fall in love. Love is something natural."

"It's just that Muslim woman have to cover themselves, only showing their face and hands, and physical contact is not allowed. How can one fall in love?"

"Islam tries to prevent love to prevent sex before marriage," he said. "A woman covering herself prevents the likelihood of being raped or abused by men that like her physical appearance."

"But what's wrong with sleeping with someone else before marriage?" she asked, quite interested.

"It's not fair to the child. The child could be thrown away by his parents who only wanted pleasure with each other. It destroys lives and creates an unstable society. Sure its fun to have sex, but have you ever thought of the child. You're ruining your child's life for your pleasure. If he was put up for adoption, he would never live a normal life with his real parents," he said and left her directly after that.

Sayid fell in love with Shannon. It was not wrong for a Muslim man to fall in love with a girl of a different culture. Though he had to keep his relationship with her at a limit, for he has already kissed her, which already may have exceeded the limit.

Until that day when her slept with her.

His love for her had grown. She wanted it. He wanted it. He tried to remember the consequences, but he couldn't control himself. He did it. He had committed a sin. He tried to enjoy his moment with her, but couldn't, though tried to hide it.

When he left her side and turned his face, he felt like a perjurer. He had never felt this bad since he used his friend to get to Nadia, causing him to suicide. Sayid thinks that Allah has punished him by crashing his plane.

Shannon dies shortly after that, which is what Sayid thought his punishment was. He prayed to Allah, praying for forgiveness and for Shannon to be let into heaven. He was crying, not only because of Shannon's death but because of his sins.

A week after her death, Sayid was still looking out into the sea and crying. Sawyer came and gave him a bottle of wine. "Drink this, it helps," he said giving him a bottle of wine.

Sayid shook his head.

"Why not? It's not everyday that I offer a drink to somebody. You don't know what you're missin," he said, insisting he drinks.

"I don't know what I'm missing because I have never had a drink before," said Sayid, still looking at the ocean.

This caused Sawyer to laugh. "You're kidding."

"It is forbidden in Islam," said Sayid, looking at Sawyer. "It's a foul drink, but it's the cause of millions of deaths worldwide, including suicides and car crashes. It causes us to commit sins…"

"I get it…" said Sawyer. "But it's still good. It relaxes you and tastes great."

"Two reasons facing millions, I just don't want to drink, Sawyer."

Days passed. Sayid was one of the survivors. He was able to keep up with Islam until Nadia died. He began to kill people for revenge, which is of course forbidden. He began to sleep with woman to get his revenge against Charles Widmore and his men, the cause of his wife's death…


End file.
